Delhi Assembly elections: Over 1.1 lakh young voters added to rolls in past year

According to data from the office of the Chief Election Officer, Delhi, Matiala constituency in South West Delhi has the highest number of voters at 7,184 between the age of 18 and 19 years who were added to the rolls in the latest round. This is followed by Vikaspuri constituency in West Delhi at 6,153 voters, Burari in Outer Delhi with 5,616 voters and Bawana in Outer Delhi with 4,615 voters.

The total number of voters in the 2015 Assembly polls was 1.33 crore. This time, it is 1.46 crore, an increase of 13 lakh voters. While each political party aims to appeal to this constituency of voters, promises related to education are expected to figure in the manifestos of each of the three parties.

“We have a two-pronged approach when it comes to the youth, and the first is education. In these elections as well as the previous one, we have focussed on access to a high-quality education system irrespective of your family or financial background. We will keep working in that direction. The second is environment. The younger generation has more to worry about that since they will bear the brunt of poor environment parameters. We have taken several steps to improve Delhi’s air quality and the city will see more stringent steps in the coming years,” said Jasmine Shah, who is part of the Aam Aadmi Party’s manifesto committee.

This time, the total number of voters 1.46 crore, an increase of 13 lakh voters.

For the BJP, the focus is having campuses in East and West Delhi along the lines of those that exist in North and South Delhi to bring administrative as well as academic streamlining to these areas. Another area that the party is looking at is drug de-addiction.

“Many youngsters are addicted to drugs in slums in the city. There should be a body that works in this direction to ensure that youth do not get into drugs. Schools should start awareness exercises,” said Delhi BJP youth wing president Sunil Yadav.

In the Congress manifesto, the focus will be on youth and suggestions are being analysed, said Puja Bahri, who is part of the manifesto committee. Officials said the party is looking at free bus travel for students as one of the schemes.